Oral contraceptives and diabetes mellitus.

As part of a large prospective study on morbidity in oral contraceptive users initiated in 1968, risk of developing diabetes mellitus was estimated as no higher than that in non-users. 23,000 women in each of the user and never-user groups were recruited by general practitioners in the U.K. Women whose diabetes was associated with pregnancy, or that was diagnoses before or during the study period were excluded. The relative risks were 0.85 for 1-59 months of use, 0.46 for 60-119 months, 1.49 for 120 months of use. The total risk was 0.80 for current users, vs. 0.82 for former users. It is remarkable that these cases were in women using the formerly available high dose pills.